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IF ONLY the police had stopped to read the fine print on the
"APEC 2007 Official Vehicle" sticker.

"This vehicle belongs to a member of The Chaser's War on
Everything. This dude likes trees and poetry and certain types
of carnivorous plants excite him."

Two police security checkpoints into the sniper-ridden "ring of
steel" later, and it took a comedian in an Osama bin Laden outfit
to rouse Sydney's $150 million APEC security monster into
action.

The much-vaunted protection for the APEC summit was peeled away
with embarrassing ease yesterday by satirists armed with hire cars
flying Canadian flags.

Nine men and two women were charged last night with breaching
APEC security zones after the fake motorcade sailed past police
checkpoints to drive within metres of President George Bush's
hotel, the InterContinental. The charges carry a maximum sentence
of six months' jail.

Those charged include the show's executive producer, Julian
Morrow, and his fellow cast member Chas Licciardello  who
donned fake beard and white robes  along with members of
their crew and hire car drivers. All were granted bail to appear in
court on October 4.

The Chaser's bogus motorcade of two black vans, a hire
car, two very unofficial looking motorcycles and jogging security
heavies remained undetected until Morrow and Licciardello got out
of their car outside Mr Bush's hotel, where police grabbed
them.

Chaser team member Chris Taylor said there was "no particular
reason" they had chosen Canadian flags. "We just thought they'd be
a country who the cops wouldn't scrutinise too closely, and who
feasibly would only have three cars in their motorcade as opposed
to the 20 or so gas-guzzlers that Bush has brought with him."

Last night, the ABC issued a statement saying: "The
Chaser team had no knowledge that they had entered a
restricted zone."

"When the Chaser reached the perimeter of what they thought was
the APEC restricted zone, they voluntarily turned around," the
statement said.

"The police only detained the Chaser motorcade when it was
turning around and after Chas Licciardello emerged from a car
dressed as Osama bin Laden."

It said the comedians were wearing mock "insecurity" passes,
which expressly stated they were a joke.

NSW Police Minister David Campbell said that rather than being
an embarrassment in front of 21 visiting world leaders, the breach
was a success for security arrangements.

"This reinforces that APEC security has been successful by the
mere fact that 11 people have been arrested," he said.

Mr Campbell said he "did not see the funny side at all".

Police had been worried the Chaser team would cause trouble and
had warned them to behave responsibly, Mr Campbell said.

"(Police) said 'we understand that parody and satire are
entertaining and fun but please understand the seriousness
of this matter That seems to have been thrown out the
window."

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer denied the stunt had exposed a
flaw in APEC security and appeared amused. "Whatever you think of
the humour of The Chaser, they were clearly not going to
harm anybody in a physical way," Mr Downer said. "They presumably
were, as is the nature of their show, aiming to humiliate a lot of
well-known people."

Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd told Channel Nine he thought the
team had gone too far. "I'm a fan of The Chaser they
take the mickey out of me all the time  that's fine," Mr Rudd
said. "But I think when you've got a major security event going on
in Sydney right now, I think these guys have crossed the line."

The latest clash with police came as ratings figures showed that
the first show of The Chaser's second series on the ABC on
Wednesday night drew an average audience of 1.49 million people
nationally, making it the second most-watched show behind Channel
Ten's Thank God You're Here.